Topic: ethics (5)

• ConceptArta (Truth, right order)

  The Iranian principle of truth, righteousness, and cosmic and social order, opposed to the Lie (drauga); the moral axis of Achaemenid royal ideology and, later, a central concept of Zoroastrianism.

• ConceptMithra

  The ancient Iranian god of covenant, the sworn oath and the light of the sun; the all-seeing guardian who punishes the oath-breaker, invoked in royal inscriptions from Artaxerxes II onward and woven through the Achaemenid ethic of good faith.

• Survey essayReligion & the Lie: the Achaemenid religious world

  A survey of Achaemenid religion: the worship of Ahura Mazdā and the ideology of Truth against the Lie; the Magi and their rites of fire, oath, and death; the toleration of subject gods; and the vexed question of the kings' relationship to Zoroaster.

• ConceptThe Drauga (the Lie)

  The Iranian principle of falsehood and disorder, the cosmic and political adversary of arta (Truth); in Darius's Behistun inscription, the force embodied by every rebel and pretender against the rightful king.

• PersonZarathustra

  The Iranian prophet whose hymns, the Gāthās, exalt Ahura Mazdā and the choice between Truth and the Lie; his date, homeland and exact relation to Achaemenid religion are among the most disputed questions in the field.